Toolbox with socket-retaining structure

ABSTRACT

A toolbox with a socket-retaining structure has two half-bodies having inner surfaces, at least one elongated recess defined in the inner surface, a pivotal rod transversally attached inside the elongated recess, and multiple connecting blocks pivotally and slidably mounted on the pivotal rod. Each connecting block has an insertion end that is adapted to engage with a socket so that the socket is connected to the toolbox. By using the pivotal rod and pivoting the multiple connecting blocks on the pivotal rod, sockets can be mounted on the toolbox inside the elongated recess. Moreover, the sockets can be conveniently detached from the socket-retaining structure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a toolbox with a socket-retaining structure, and more particularly a toolbox that has a retaining device to efficiently utilize interior space so that the toolbox contains more sockets than conventional one.

2. Description of Related Art

With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, a conventional toolbox for retaining sockets comprises multiple recesses (50) and multiple dividing blocks (52). The recesses (50) are defined inside the toolbox to individually receive sockets (60). The dividing blocks (52) are formed between two adjacent recesses (50). Each dividing block (52) has a top, two sides and two protruding parts. The two protruding parts are respectively formed at the two sides near the top and extend toward interiors of the adjacent recesses (50) to provide a retaining force to hold the corresponding sockets (60).

However, the conventional toolbox is hollow and usually made by blowing/vacuum molding so that the dividing blocks (52) are formed at the same time when the toolbox is shaped. The conventional toolbox has the following drawbacks:

1. When the sockets (60) are large and heavy, the dividing blocks (52) need to be correspondingly large to provide sufficient force to the sockets (60). Therefore, the dividing blocks (52) occupy too much space inside the toolbox and the quantity of the sockets retaining inside the toolbox is diminished also.

2. Because the sockets (60) are held by clamping force from the dividing blocks (52), dimensional tolerances when manufacturing the dividing blocks (52) must be small. If those tolerances are exceeded, the sockets (60) easily loosen from the toolbox yet if the sockets (60) are secured by the dividing blocks (52) too tightly, a user will experience frustration in trying to remove the sockets from the recesses (50) conveniently.

3. Generally, the sockets (60) have laser-marking in sizes on outer surfaces to arrange of the sockets (60) to the corresponding recesses (50) quickly and conveniently. However, the sockets (60) easily rotate inside the recesses (50) after the sockets (60) are received inside the recesses (50) because the toolbox has no positioning device to avoid sockets (60) rotating. Therefore, the laser-marking on some sockets is obscured and appearance of the sockets shown inside the toolbox is irregular.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A main objective of the invention is to provide a toolbox that has at least one retaining device to efficiently utilize interior space of the toolbox

Another main objective of the invention is to provide a toolbox that has at least one retaining device to display multiple sockets in an ordered manner.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toolbox in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective partial view of the toolbox in accordance with FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective partial view of another embodiment of the toolbox in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective partial view of a conventional toolbox in accordance with the prior art; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side partial view of the conventional toolbox in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The toolbox with a socket-retaining structure in accordance with the present invention comprises two half-bodies having inner surfaces, at least one elongated recess defined in the inner surface, a pivotal rod transversally attached inside the elongated recess, and multiple connecting blocks pivotally and slidably mounted on the pivotal rod. Each connecting block has an insertion end that is adapted to engage with a socket so that the socket is connected to the toolbox. By using the pivotal rod and pivoting the multiple connecting blocks on the pivotal rod, more sockets can be attached to the toolbox inside the elongated recess because no conventional dividing block is needed here. Moreover, the sockets can be conveniently detached from the retaining device.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a toolbox with socket-retaining structure comprises two half-bodies with inner surfaces and multiple retaining devices arranged at the inner surfaces. Each retaining device has an elongated recess (10), a pivotal rod (20) and multiple connecting blocks (30).

The elongated recess (10) is defined in the inner surface of one half-body and has a bottom, an upper end, a lower end, a rod slit (11), multiple shallow concavities (12) and multiple stubs (14). The rod slit (11) is defined inside the elongated recess (10) near the lower end and extends over the elongated recess (10). The rod slit (11) has two ends and two pairs of clamping ribs (112) respectively formed at the two ends. The multiple shallow concavities (12) are defined in the bottom to correspondingly and respectively receive the sockets (60). The multiple stubs (14) are formed on the upper end inside the elongated recess (10) and correspondingly and respectively align with the multiple shallow concavities (12) to provide positioning force to the sockets (60) when the sockets (60) are accommodated inside the elongated recess (10).

The pivot rod (20) is received inside the rod slit (11) and clamped by the clamping ribs (112) so that the pivot rod (20) can be firmly secured inside the rod slit (11).

The multiple connecting blocks (30) are pivotally mounted on the pivot rod (20). Each connecting block (30) has a pivoting end (32) penetrated by the pivot rod (20) and an insertion end (34) adapted to engage with one corresponding socket (60). The pivoting end is a sleeve that is snugly mounted on the pivot rod (20) to keep the connecting block (30) from free sliding. The insertion end (34) has a flat base with two faces and two sheets. One face of the flat base is attached to a side of the sleeve and the other face of the flat base connected to the two sheets that extend upwardly from the flat base in parallel. Therefore, the insertion end (34) is substantially rectangular in its cross-section. When the insertion end (34) engages with a rectangular hole (62) in the socket (60), the socket (60) can not rotate and stays in a certain orientation. In another optional embodiment, the insertion end and the hole in the socket (60) are polygonal to provide the anti-rotating capability. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 3, each sheet further has an outer face and multiple ribs (342) formed on the outer face to abut the socket (60) to provide extra retaining force to the socket (60)

When the toolbox accommodates the sockets (60), the user first ensures the laser-marking on the socket (60) faces outward, then engages the socket (60) to the insertion end (34) of the connecting block (30). Lastly, the socket (60) is pivotally pushed to the corresponding shallow concavity (12) inside the elongated recess (10). After the edge of the socket (60) has passed the stub (14), the socket is firmly secured inside the elongated recess (10).

According to the above description, the toolbox with a socket-retaining structure in the present invention has the following advantages:

1. By using the connecting blocks (30) and the stubs (14) to clamp the socket (60), conventional dividing blocks for securing the socket (60) are obviated inside the toolbox. Therefore, interior space for accommodating sockets (60) is improved to allow more sockets to be received inside the toolbox or design of the toolbox can be re-dimensioned to a smaller size.

2. Because the socket-retaining device only needs a single elongated recess (10) for receiving the sockets (60) and is simple in structure in comparison with the conventional toolbox having multiple recesses for individual sockets (60), and thus molding the toolbox in the present invention is easy in operation. Moreover, the production rate of toolboxes is improved because the scrap rate caused by the fine manufacturing tolerances is obviated.

3. The insertion end (34) on the connecting block (30) is shaped rectangular (polygonal) so that the socket (60) is kept in a certain orientation to keep the laser-marked face constantly outward. Therefore, when the toolbox is opened to display the sockets, the appearance is neat and ordered.

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

1. A toolbox with a socket-retaining structure comprising: a toolbox with an inner face; and at least one retaining device arranged on the inner face, each retaining device comprising: an elongated recess (10) defined in the inner face of the toolbox; a pivotal rod (20) transversally secured inside the elongated recess (10); and multiple connecting blocks (30) pivotally mounted on the pivotal rod (20), wherein each connecting block (30) has a pivoting end (32) penetrated by the pivot rod (20) and an insertion end (34) adapted to engage with one corresponding socket (60).
 2. The toolbox with a socket-retaining structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the insertion end (34) on the connecting block (30) is rectangular in cross-section.
 3. The toolbox with a socket-retaining structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elongated recess (10) has a bottom, an upper end, a lower end and the retaining device further comprises: a rod slit (11) defined inside the elongated recess (10) near the lower end having two ends; two pairs of clamping ribs (112) respectively formed at the two ends of the rod slit (11); multiple shallow concavities (12) defined in the bottom; and multiple stubs (14) formed on the upper end inside the elongated recess (10) and correspondingly and respectively aligning with the multiple shallow concavities (12).
 4. The toolbox with a socket-retaining structure as claimed in claim 2, wherein the elongated recess (10) has a bottom, an upper end, a lower end and the retaining device further comprises: a rod slit (11) defined inside the elongated recess (10) near the lower end having two ends; two pairs of clamping ribs (112) respectively formed at the two ends of the rod slit (11); multiple shallow concavities (12) defined in the bottom; and multiple stubs (14) formed on the upper end inside the elongated recess (10) and correspondingly and respectively aligning with the multiple shallow concavities (12).
 5. The toolbox with a socket-retaining structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pivoting end is a sleeve snugly mounted on the pivot rod (20); the insertion end (34) has a flat base with two faces and two sheets, wherein one face of the flat base is attached to side of the sleeve and the other face of the flat base connected to the two sheets extending upwardly from the flat base in parallel.
 6. The toolbox with a socket-retaining structure as claimed in claim 4, wherein the pivoting end is a sleeve snugly mounted on the pivot rod (20); the insertion end (34) has a flat base with two faces and two sheets, wherein one face of the flat base is attached to side of the sleeve and the other face of the flat base connected to the two sheets extending upwardly from the flat base in parallel.
 7. The toolbox with a socket-retaining structure as claimed in claim 5, wherein each sheet has an outer face and multiple ribs (342) formed on the outer face.
 8. The toolbox with a socket-retaining structure as claimed in claim 6, wherein each sheet has an outer face and multiple ribs (342) formed on the outer face. 